


Sparring Match

by aragonite



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Pre-Relationship, Prompt Fill, bit of angst?, maybe idk, these two just need to get a move on and kiss already
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-18
Updated: 2017-02-18
Packaged: 2018-09-25 10:49:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9816566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aragonite/pseuds/aragonite
Summary: When trainging with Commander Helaine is proving ineffective for a stubborn inquisitor, Cullen offers to help and the two end up sparring against one another in the middle of Skyhold





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was a prompt fill ("I don't need help, epsecially not from you") that I forgot about completely. It's got poor grammar and messy writing in places but oh well, just a bit of fun pre-relationship

Kelandryl had handled a sword before, her stance and strength made that clear. But having relied almost wholly on magic over the past few years, her training in being a Knight Enchanter was proving more difficult that shed anticipated.   
It was early afternoon when Cullen saw her sparring with a soldier down in the courtyard, she was fairly competent he noticed, impressive even, given that she was a mage. He had intended to work with the recruits this afternoon anyway, and walked down to the training area which was bathed in the glowing summer sun. 

“Inquisitor! One might think you were determined to do precisely the opposite of what I instructed if they were watching you now!” Commander Helaine barked from the sidelines. Kelandryl’s already inflamed temper sparked, as she swung her sword at the poor soldier with enough force to knock him flat on the ground before she turned to face the Knight Enchanter. “I hardly asked for anyone’s instruction, so if you’d piss off I think Ill train on my own for the rest of the day” she spat, storming off to the training dummies that stood in the cool shade of Skyhold’s walls, leaving Helaine muttering about how the inquisitor was far from suited to the knight enchanter specialisation as she strode away in the opposite direction.   
Hearing the commotion, Cullen turned his gaze from the sparring ring to see the inquisitor mercilessly hacking into a dummy, before she spun as if she felt his eyes on her, and glared. He turned away again, scratching the back of his neck before deciding to do some practice of his own. She certainly wasn’t the friendliest face in Skyhold, and was frequently being reprimanded by Josephine for her quick tongue and short temper. 

The sun had since moved, and Kelandryl was now dripping with sweat and she pushed back her short golden hair with a leather band. She turned and leant against the still cool stone wall behind her, shutting her eyes only for a moment before she heard approaching footsteps. Her eyes shot open, and Cullen appeared to flinch as she looked at him, wondering what brought the commander to speak to her. She remembered in that moment, how it felt when he carried her from where she was found half dead after the attack on Haven, to the Inquisitions temporary camp. A warm feeling rose in her stomach, but she pushed it away. They’d moved past their differences over her magic, and in fact she found herself agreeing with him more often than not over the war table, sharing his impatience for the roundabout tactics which Leiliana and Josephine favoured.   
“Can I help you commander?” she asked, noting that he too had been practicing.  
“I was wondering-or that is, I couldn’t help but noticing that uh” he stuttered, blushing despite his already pink face. “You’ve taken up swordplay I see, and I wanted to offer my services in teaching you” He said, as if he couldn’t get the words out fast enough. Kelandryl was taken aback by his offer, but picked her sword from the ground and began walking towards the sparring ring.   
“I appreciate the sentiment, but I don’t need help, especially not from you” she replied as she walked away, not hesitating to let her hips sway a little as she pushed her hair from her face.   
“I should say, I am considered on of the best warriors in skyhold, and I train the recruits personally from time to time” he said proudly, walking to keep up with her surprisingly quick stride. There were few people about at this time, the sun too much for many.  
“Boasting? From our usually stoic and stern commander? Well today is full of surprises” she said smirking. Kelandryl looked him in the eye, registering his scowl and wounded pride. She also couldn’t help but notice how his shirt clung to his well muscled chest, and she felt her own face go red as she turned away quickly. Suddenly, she had an idea.   
“While I certainly don’t need a teacher, there seem awfully few people up for a sparring match this afternoon” she raised a questioning eyebrow as she pivoted to face him raising her sword, asking the question without another word.  
“I hardly think it would be fair Inquisitor, nor proper in any sense” he replied, alarm bells ringing in his head as he registered Varric’s sudden appearance and expression of amusement. Maker, how did that dwarf always show up at the worst moments? he thought. He met her storm grey eyes, and noting how they mocked him, he relented, raising his sword slowly.  
“If you’re sure?” he said, and he couldn’t help but smile at the triumphant look on her face. She stepped forward confidently, swinging her sword with more strength than he would’ve expected of her. He noted her toned arms as they clashed. Perhaps he ought to take her more seriously, he thought, as she continued with greater ease and swiftness than most of the inquisition’s soldiers, each swing growing in confidence.  
It took enough goading to get him into this, and Kelandryl hadn’t really been sure what she was thinking, but now she continued, smug at the surprise on his face when she proved she was more adept with a sword that he had obviously expected. She had seen him fighting before, both at the conclave and at Haven, but fighting against him took all her concentration and effort. Looking up to his face, she made the mistake of hesitating for a moment, as she paused to consider how fine his features were in the sunlight. She barely saw the next blow coming, and suddenly she was gasping for breath and lying winded on the ground.   
“Ouch, thats got to hurt” she turned her head to the side and noted Varric standing amongst several others, holding what looked like a slip of paper and some coins. She lurched to her feet, ignoring the hand Cullen had offered.  
“Are you taking bets?!” She demanded, acutely aware of the fact she had also snubbed an mumbled apology from her opponent.   
“I’m a business man! What did you expect?” he grinned. “Odds are stacked against you Im afraid, we all know you can handle magic sure, but challenging the commander here was a poor choice Kel” He said all this while exchanging money with people, barely missing a beat as he shrugged. She turned back to Cullen, and- was that a smug grin on his face?  
“Best two out of three” she declared loudly, emitting an ooohh! from those who watched. She’d deal with Varric and his antics later, she thought as she turned to face Cullen again, who gave her an incredulous look.   
“Inquisitor you cant be serious-“ he started, but she had already lifted her sword, and despite the crowd, Cullen felt confident. He was in his element, and she was letting her arrogance guide her. Even so, he couldn’t help but appreciate her skill and apparent dedication to learning. She did seem to be enjoying this, and although her scowls and smirks suggested scorn, her eyes held something else. Kelandryl feinted, and nearly got him with a cleverly hidden slash of her sword, as he returned his concentration to their match. Evidently he had softened in recent weeks, fighting only recruits from time to time, while she had been honing her skills in the field. He pressed forward, and as she gave ground he made to topple her balance, but as he did so she rolled out and kicked him in the back of the knee, pushing him to the ground. He looked up past the sword pointed in his face, which no doubt displayed his absolute shock and horror, to hers above him, eyes sparkling with triumph and lips parted slightly in a breathless smile.  
“Looks as if you were right Varric, betting does pay off” said Cassandra dryly, as Cullen turned and saw Dorian reluctantly handing money to Varric, which he handed to Cassandra (taking care to pocket a coin or two for himself).  
“Unbelievable. Quite frankly I’m disappointed commander” Dorian snorted, eliciting laughs from those around him. Kelandryl stretched out her hand, and felt Cullen take it as he stood up. Fearing she had held on too long, she snatched her hand away, turning to wipe her brow. When she turned to face her opponent again, he was removing his shirt much to the pleasure of some Orlesian nobles who just so happened to be walking by. Kel’s stomach dropped for a moment before she adopted the most nonchalant expression she could muster, crossing her arms and inspecting her blade in the hope that nobody noticed the colour rising to her cheeks. “Not tough enough to stand the heat there Cullen?” she taunted with a smirk, ignoring the chuckles of their audience.   
“I guess it’s all to play for now, best two out of three,” Varric reminded them, earning him two equally irritated glares as he grinned. And so the third round began, as Kelandryl tuned once more to face Cullen, only she was too slow as he had already swung his sword and she had to duck hastily, raising her own blade in defence. She registered the determined look on his face, and realised he was taking this seriously now. All right, she thought, let’s see how this goes. 

At long last, the sparring match came to an end, and not in the way many of those placing bets had predicted. Despite it becoming obvious she was tiring, Kelandryl persisted, and was too determined and stubborn to give up, even though it was increasingly clear that Cullen was significantly better with a sword than her. She nearly lost her balance for a moment, and found herself defending more often than she would have liked. When it looked as if she were sure to lose, Kelandryl suddenly found the opportunity she’d been waiting desperately for, in a moment when Cullen was too slow to raise his sword, and she swung with enough of her remaining strength that he stumbled back and fell. For a brief second she questioned what she had just seen, he was constantly lecturing the recruits about making such a mistake and surely there hadn’t been enough force behind that blow for it to win her their match? She put those thoughts aside, and allowed her usual arrogance to win over as she smirked with triumph at Cullen, whom accepted her helping hand up even if he didn’t need it. She didn’t snatch her hand away this time, and he almost looked apologetic when she met his eyes and her smug grin slipped into a more genuine smile as she looked up at him in the glow of the late afternoon sun, hair a mess but warm brown eyes soft and smiling. She turned away then, hoping the sun and redness in her face would hide her blush as she finally looked over to Varric, who was laughing in apparent surprise.  
“Remind me not to get on your bad side next time your inquisitorialness” he joked, earning him another scowl as she walked past, ready to return to her quarters and rest.  
“Perhaps a rematch some other time…” Cullen tried to ask, but his half formed question was lost to her over the general noise of the courtyard as everyone began drifting off in different directions. He cursed silently as he watched her walk up the stairs, retaining her arrogant air of victory. At that he smiled again, turning to return to his own rooms only to see Varric and Dorian looking at him expectantly, the latter looking suspiciously amused for someone that just lost money. The three stood there for a moment, as Cullen felt his face grow warm when he recognised the deliberate knowing look Varric was giving him.  
“Just admit it Curly, you let her win” the dwarf accused, stating the obvious. Cullen did his best to appear affronted by such a preposterous suggestion, and failed.  
“What? I would never – first of all that is none of your concern and nor is it true. The Inquisitor is skilled combatant. Don’t you have anything better to do with your time?” he scolded as he saw the incredulous expressions on Varric and Dorian’s faces.   
“Anything better to do than watch the tension between the Inquisitor and her Commander? Probably – but certainly nothing so entertaining” the Tevinter quipped, earning him a scowl from Cullen. “You could perhaps; oh I don’t know, talk to each other like normal people? As opposed to swing swords at one another and discuss military strategy over the war table” He continued sarcastically. Cullen stopped his protesting for a moment to consider Dorian’s surprisingly reasonable suggestion, why shouldn’t they have normal conversations like ordinary people? Of course, he recalled the reasons that so often sprung to mind when an idea like that got his hopes up; they were in the middle of a war, Kelandryl was the Inquisitor, and the serious issue that he couldn’t even determine whether or not she liked him.  
“For starters I don’t even know what you’re talking about. The Herald and I are colleagues nothing more, and once more it is none of your business!” Cullen said sternly, before spinning on his heel and marching off to his office on the battlements. As he walked away, Cullen considered the afternoon’s events. He had little work left to do for the day, and after cooling down found himself wandering the castle walls in the late afternoon sun. He smiled as he recalled seeing Kelandryl somewhat more relaxed than usual; though she still appeared hostile, he was learning that that was often just how she presented herself. They were somehow on better terms now after swinging swords at one another than when they had first met, and her distrust of Templars had been evident from the minute he was introduced. As Cullen strolled along the battlements he found himself looking up at the tall tower where the inquisitor’s chambers lay above the rest of the keep.

**Author's Note:**

> also I am Terrible at paragraphs so sorry about that! any and all feedback is welcome!


End file.
